着

著
zháo
#41 most
frequent character
to touch, to come in contact with

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

着 first meant 'chopsticks'; it was a variant of 箸 zhù, bamboo 竹 plus 者 zhě. Both parts are now empty: 目 comes from 日, the rest from 著. Each Mandarin reading was borrowed for its sound: zhe marks an ongoing action, zhù 'to show', zháo 'to touch', zhuó 'to wear'.

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